" Thesearch for truth requires independence of mind which
safeguards originality - the tool with which new discoveries are made.
Independence of mind and originality must be allowed expression and thus 'dissent'
must be valued" (Jerome Bruner)

theme:
The human capacity for learning is a result of
millions of
years of evolutionary process. As a product of human evolution, the learning
process is based on the need to acquire information and understanding... knowledge of the realities of the world...
true knowldedge or 'truth'. The truth finding process depends on insights which are reliable
because they involve the interplay of empirical observation
or 'data' and
experiential understanding
or'theory'. Truth doesn't have to be demonstrated... or proven.
Truth is there and nothing can change that. Not believing that something is true
does not make the truth go away. Truth is ineluctable... inescapable. Truth is the authority but
to be motivated to search for truth, the mind must not be closed. If the mind is closed it is easy to
mistake authority for the truth and it is difficult to unlearn a lie. If people are conditioned to accept authority
as 'truth' and if they feel
comfortable with their sense of security in 'knowing the truth', then when they
are challenged with the real truth their sense of security is compromised and
they feel threatened. In a process
of 'cognitive dissonance' they react with resistance and self-jusification and refuse to
accept the 'new' truth. If on the other hand, the mind is
open and free, authority is not mistaken for truth andquestions are asked instead
using the intelligence of moral or 'spiritual' insight... 'intuition'. Motivation for the pursuit of truth is a function of
engagement of psychological and moral or 'spiritual'
development resulting in personality integration which is characterised by holistic
perception and complete cognition. Hence the
importance of education for freedom to grow through learning... to
cultivate intuitive intelligence or
'creative intelligence' i.e. education of the personality as a
whole or 'holistic education'. Holistic education
involves intellectual independence 'independence of mind' as having the
freedom and the courage to question authority in order to pursue the 'truth'.
Truth as knowledge of reality is fundamental to accurate evaluation and creative
decision-making required for effective adaptability and survival.

"A mature truth told to
immature minds ceases, in those minds, to be that same mature truth. Immature
minds take from it only what immature minds can assimilate. In the end, even
though they may give it lip-service and may raise institutions in its name,
they turn the mature truth into an applied immaturity. This fate of
psychological depreciation has been the fate of all our greatest human
truths. Uttered by mature minds, and for the puprose of maturing minds, they
have been received, for the most part, by less mature minds - and have thus
been only partially comprehended. Being only partially comprehended, they have
found expression in ways that have perpetuated as much misunderstanding as
understanding, as much error as truth". (Overstreet, H.A. The
Mature Mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. Inc. 1949)home

Traditional paradigm... classical or
orthodox reductionist sciencelater
became known as'reductionism'
or ‘scientism’:In the seventeenth century it
was the Church and the State
which determined a priori what the knowledge of reality or
'truth' should be.
This changed with the Scientific Revolution when astronomers and
physicists asserted their
freedom to make observations and then determine for themselves what
wasreally the'truth'. The basic assumption of classical science was that the
mental and physical realms of existence are completely separate.
In thetraditional paradigm
of classical or 'orthodox' science the picture of
the truth of reality was that it was perfect, complete and hidden but
unobtainable. It was an old and widely held notion that emotions are the enemy
and detrimental to the acquisition of knowledge
because they disrupt accurate perception and good judgment
and are therefore exclusive of truth.Physics-centred
theory produced the concept of ‘scientific objectivity’as the
mode of knowing
required for an impersonal 'value-free'
science without the disruptive
efect of
emotions. They
devised the 'scientific method' as a rational method of analysing observations
and forming conclusions .
The assumptions of reductionism can be successfully applied to the study
of objects which are not related to human aspirations and motivations. It is possible to feeluninvolved, detached and neutral when studying rocks, heat,
electrical currents and so on.
The factor of human motivation cannot be ignored when it comes to the study of the social sciences
and human affairs.The concept of scientific
objectivity as the
'spectacles of perception' of classical science create distortions of perceptionand
have a
crippling effectwhen applied uncritically
when it
comes to the study
of the human personality or 'human nature'.

.. Truth and human nature... biological
function of knowledge of reality or 'truth'.Knowledge which is true is 'truth'. Knowledge which is untrue is
'untruth'. It is the true knowledge
of reality or 'truth' which is of survival value to the human organism. As a biological
social organism, the human individual has an instinctive interest in
understanding the realities of its environment... depends for survival on comprehension of
the realities of the physical environment, the social environment and the inner workings of the human
personality or 'human nature'. In its instinctive dependence on an intense interest in
reality, the human organism is affected and stimulated emotionally as well as
intellectually. Combining both intellectual and emotional powers, love and reason, the organism
instinctively attempts to comprehend the world... by combining both intellectual
and emotional powers...
this is 'intrinsic
motivation'. Curiosity
is rooted in the instinct of self preservation i.e.. Intrinsic motivation involves perception of a
reality... a phenomenon... in its relation to a totality at the same time as its
uniqueness.... as an
interconnecting unity …a totality. Intrinsically motivated perception is
'holistic' and the
holistic perception
of reality results in holistic learning and
knowledge of reality or 'truth'. Truth is the foundation for accurate
evaluation and intelligent decision-making required for effective adaptability
to environmental conditions and the problems of living.

The human process of 'truth-finding' or 'science' is
the activity of inquiry as
the primary tool for following up and testing conclusions suggested by the facts
and events of life. The truth-finding process in the
paradigm of holistic science is based on the assumption that everything
experienced -both physical and mental- is part of an interconnecting unity. This is
the unitary approach of the science of interconnectedness or wholeness
i.e.'holistic
science'. In the unitary view, reductionist causes appear
to describe why things behave the way they do only when part of the whole can
be sufficiently isolated from the rest that it appears unconnected.
Truth as
knowledge of
reality is like an alloy. Holistic science involves the functions of emotion
and cognition operating together so
that knowledge of reality or 'truth' is a
transaction between perceiver and perceived,
a mutual product or alloy.
The observer
partly creates the reality or 'truth'.
The observer's unconscious
motivational forces which operate in the perception of reality.
With observer
expectation, the act of observation itself shapes, changes, intrudes into the
condition of 'being observed'.
Consequently theknowledge of
reality
produces a view of reality, a worldview or 'paradigm'. As a
view of realitya paradigm is like a map for
negotiating the terrain of life. If the map is accurate and ‘true’, one knows
where one is, one knows where one wants to go,
and one generally knows how to get there. If the map is inaccurate and false,
one probably gets lost.
The validity of the
map of reality depends on one’s ability for critical thought. The only way
to be certain that one's map of reality is valid is to expose it to the
criticism of others. Dedication to
true knowledge of reality
or 'truth'means a
willingness to be
personally challenged... to challenge one’s own perceptionsas well as those of
others. The more
willing one is to accept the personal challenge, the more
clearly one sees the reality of the world. The more clearly one sees the world,
the better equipped one is to deal with it. The less clearly one sees the world,
the more befuddled the mind becomes by falsehood, misperceptions, and illusions
and the less able one is to deal with it... the less able one is to distinguish
between what is true and what is not 'true' and to determine correct courses of
action and make wise decisions.

The ability to distinguish between 'truth' and 'untruth' depends on whether
cognition is 'complete' or 'incomplete'. Whether cognition is complete or incomplete
depends on whether or not one is aware or 'critically conscious'.
Critical
consciousness is a function of personality integration...level of consciousness is a function of
the stage of personal development one has reched...
'sociocognitive stage'. Complete cognition is a function
of
personality integration...
awareness or 'consciousness'.
Complete integration of
the personality is the basis for complete cognitionor 'being-cognition' and 'being-love'.From being-cognition and
being-love comes freedom from fear.Freedom from fear facilitates the capacity
to take complete
responsibility for oneself
and to
know where
one's responsibilities lie and where they don't. With freedom from fear comes
the joy of life. Life's
meaning
which is provided by death is overcoming the fear of divisiveness and
uniting in a spirit of
compassion or 'love'. This is the central wisdom of
spiritual evolution...
and of religion
in its true sense.

Truthas spiritual
truth... religious truth or 'The Truth'... is the natural force of fellowship or 'love' as spiritual
love... 'agape'... which allows for human cooperation and collaboration
required for survival of the
human species as a social species. Jesus, an integrated personality: "I am
the Truth" means "I am Love".. Love is our human nature... our social
nature... our essential or 'divine' nature. The
spiritually evolved person is an extraordinarily loving person who is competent
in the service of others.With great power... they suffer dreadfully.
Spiritual
evolution to a life of higher consciousness means more suffering but more joy.
Discipline is the means of human
spiritual evolution... the force behind discipline is love and the capacity to
exercise attention by listening. A major and essential task in the process of
one's spiritual development is the continuous work of bringing one's conscious self-concept
into progressively greater congruence with
the
reality
of
the ego-transcendant self the 'Truth'... 'true self' or Sself...
being
awareness which
requires constant
self-examination and contemplation or 'meditation'. Meditation is essential for finding the
'truth' upon which survival ultimately depends.

Function of contemplation or 'meditation'... From the
holistic
perspective there are two ways to connect with reality. One is through physical sense
data - the objective aspect of the truth-finding process which is the basis of
classical scienceorthodox science or
'scientism'; ; the other is through the deep intuitive 'inner knowing' of
observer participation - the subjective aspect of the truth-finding process....contemplation or 'meditation'.... contemplative knowledge or 'intimate knowledge'.

Morality
is 'living in truth'... The
integrated personality...
the 'moral being'
lives in ‘truth’...
generates
security and
understanding which leads to compassion
or
'love'...
leads a life of total honesty with total freedom just to 'be'... lives in the open. Openness is a source of illumination and clarification involving the
use of language which reflects the cognitive processes so
that thinkingis externalized... truth is made in the interpersonal relation - in the
critical discourse of dialogue. The function of dialogue is to examine how
accurately one's perception of reality reflects the true
knowledge of reality.Exercising
one's courage to communicate with others frees one from
fear.Openness
and freedom are the conditions for personal spiritual growth. Growth of the
human spirit means giving up the self or 'ego' ...establishing and
maintaining meaningful relationships... loving at the level of Being ... enjoying
actualisation
for itself... seeing it as it is... not judging, exploiting, desiring to
improve or in any other way projecting one's own
values onto others ... not wanting to interfere with the actualisation and
freedom of others.
This means more concrete experiencing and witnessing
and less
dissecting, abstracting, simplifying, organizing, and manipulating. Leaving
the 'what is' alone to be itself also implies a holistic, global
attitude.

Incomplete integration of
the personality is the basis for incomplete cognition. Incomplete
cognition of the non-integrated personality who lives in ‘untruth’ generates
insecurity and misunderstanding which leads to fear and hatred.
The personality is not fully
integrated when the individual actively clings to an outmoded view of reality
or 'worldview' developed in childhood as
a result of the lack of
wholeness in the conditioning influences of the social environment.
The acquired view of reality is
inappropriately transferred into
adulthood
in a process of
'transference'. The
result is incomplete
cognition
in which the individual sees
the surface features of environmental phenomena but is unable to penetrate
below the surface to the essentials... unable to visualize what is not yet
apparent... recognizes things as they
appear to be and perceives reality as the sum total of what has already
materializedbut is unable to
penetrate below the surface to the essentials. Incomplete
cognition is seeing the details but not the whole, seeing the trees but not the
forest. The individual who is unable to enliven perception from within combines
the known factors which are already in existence and infers their operation in
the future by calculating with the imagination. The product of incomplete
cognition is
not truth but 'untruth'.

Implications
for education: The study of education and
educational theory depends on the humanistic approach to the human process of truth-finding... or
'science' as
a human activity which involves involves the functions of emotion and cognition
operating together synergistically.

"...old and widely held
notion that emotions are only disrupting, that they are the enemy of true
perception and good judgement, that they are the opposite of sagacity and are
and must be mutually excluding of truth. A humanistic approach to science
generates a different attitude, i.e. that emotion can be synergic with
cognition, and a help in truth-finding." (Maslow Farther Reaches of Human Nature.
New York: Viking 1971 p.112)

"The meaning of all religious
practice: the individual, through prolonged psychological disciplines, gives up
completely all attachment to his personal limitations, idiosyncracies, hopes
and fears, no longer resists the self-annihilation that is preqrequisite to
rebirth in the realization of truth, and so becomes ripe at last for the great
at-one-ment. His personal ambitions being totally dissolved, he no longer tries
to live, but willingly relaxes to whatever may come to pass in him; he becomes
that is to say, an anonymity." (Campbell The Hero with a Thousand
Faces. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press 1972)

"The term 'scientific objectivity'
has, in effect, been preempted by the physics-centered theorists of science and
bent to the use of their mechanomorphic 'Weltanschauung'. It was certainly
necessary for astronomers and physicists to assert their freedom to see what was
before their eyes rather than having truth determined a priori by the church or
state. This is the kernel of sense in the concept 'value-free science'. But is
this generalization, uncritically accepted today by many, that has crippled so
many human and social scientists.....classically 'scientific objectivity' has
been most successfully achieved when its objects were most distant from human
aspiratons, hopes, and wishes. It is easy to feel uninvolved, detached,
clear-eyed, and neutral if one is studying the nature of rocks, or heat, or
electrical currents. One doesn't identify with a moon. One doesn't 'care' about
it as one does about one's child. It is easy to take the laissez-faire attitude
with oxygen or hydrogen and to have non-interfering curiosity, to be
Taoistically receptive, to let things be themselves. To be blunt about it, it is
easy to be neurtally objective, fair, and just when you don't care about the
outcome, when you can't identify or sympathize, when you neither love or
hate...if you love something or someone enough at the level of Being, then you
can enjoy its actualization of itself, which means that you will not want to
interfere with it, since you love it as it is in itself. ...you will be able to
see it as it is...you will (not ) be prone to judge tuse it improve it or in any
other way project your own values onto it. This also tends to mean more
concerete experiencing and witnessing; less abstracting, simplifying,
organizing, or intellectual manipulation. Leaving it alone to be itself also
implies a more holistic, global attitude and less active dissecting. ... This is
possible in Being-Cognition and Being -Love.. difficult to put into words" (Maslow,
A. The Psychology of Science: A Reconaissance. New York and London:
Harper and Row 1966 ???page 114-118) (See also Nameche, G. "Two Pictures of
Man," Journal of Humanistic Psychology. I 1961, 70-88)

"The
making of truth in the interpersonal relation: The picture of truth and of
reality that we have inherited from the classical
science of the impersonal is that it is'out there' perfect, complete, hidden but
uncoverable. In the earlier versions the observer simply observed. In later
versions it was understood that the observer had spectacles that distorted but
which could never be removed. Most recently physicists and psychologists have
learned that the act of observation is itself a shaper, a changer, an
intruder into the phenomenon being observed. In a word, the
observer partly creates the reality, i.e. the 'truth'. Reality seems to
be a kind of alloy of the perceiver and the perceived, a sort of mutual
product, a transaction. For instance, see the many researches with reference
and with the effects of observer-expectation, to mention only two well-known
lines of experimentation. I mean here more than the 'personal equation' of the
astronomer or even Heisenberg's principle of indeterminacy. I refer rather to
the impossibility of finding out what, for example, a preliterate culture would
'really' be like, undistorted by the observing ethnologist." (Abraham Maslow The
Psychology of Science: A Reconaissance. New York and London: Harper and
Row, 1966. p. 110)

"For adjustment to the environment, one must learn to
control and evaluate perceptions, and to extract information necessary for
survival. For intellectual and spiritual growth, one must be prepared to change
one's ideas in the face of new evidence... People cannot be expected to be
confidently adaptable at such a basic level unless they have the security of a
stable self-image... a reasoned and realistic awareness of their own powers and
their individual worth, tempered by an equal respect for the worth of others."
(David Purpel, 1989. The Moral and Spiritual Crisis in Education: A Curriculum
for Justice and Compassion in Education. Masschusetts, Bergin and Garvey
Publishers, Inc.p.57) or (N. Goble, 'The Changing Role of the Teacher', The
Function of Teaching, Paris: UNESCO 1977, page 57)

"...old and widely held
notion that emotions are only disrupting, that they are the enemy of true
perception and good judgement, that they are the opposite of sagacity and are
and must be mutually excluding of truth. A humanistic approach to science
generates a different attitude, i.e. that emotion can be synergic with
cognition, and a help in truth-finding." (Maslow Farther Reaches of Human Nature.
New York: Viking 1971 p.112)

"Truth
is central to science" (Bronowski, Ascent of Man)

"The fact that we are
shifting from a Cartesian view of the universe, in which the accent has been on
parts and elements, to a configuration view, with emphasis on wholes and
patterns, challenges every single dividing line between areas of study and
knowledge." (Peter Drucker. The Age of Discontinuity. New York: Harper and
Row 1969)

"Science
and knowledge are not a finished enterprise. Science is essentially a
self-correcting activity... scientists are people who correct the picture of the
moment with another one as a natural evolution toward a 'true' picture of the
world". (Bronowski, J. Imagination. 122)

"The meaning of all religious
practice: the individual, through prolonged psychological disciplines, gives up
completely all attachment to his personal limitations, idiosyncracies, hopes
and fears, no longer resists the self-annihilation that is preqrequisite to
rebirth in the realization of truth, and so becomes ripe at last for the great
at-one-ment. His personal ambitions being totally dissolved, he no longer tries
to live, but willingly relaxes to whatever may come to pass in him; he becomes
that is to say, an anonymity." (Campbell The Hero with a Thousand
Faces. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press 1972)

"Throughout human
history, great insights are degraded by minds too immature to understand them
and put them into mature practice. One obvious example is the universal degradation of the idea of One
God as the source of truth rather than a multiplicity of gods leading
toconfusion.The concept of God was degenerated into a mystery beyond man's
comprehension... "(Abraham Maslow)

"Progress comes only when accepted values are challenged." (Bronowski
)

"Dissent is an instrument of intellectual evolution." (Robert Hartman 'The
Science of Value' In Malslow A.H. (ed) New Knowledge in Human Values
New York: Harper, 1959)